Conductor Of Manhatan Part 1: Sara
by Nerokin4
Summary: Ricky Jordan Has played "The World Ends with You" (By the way I do not own the Franchise). Now he learns how close to reality the concept is.
1. The First Day: Times Square

Conductor of Manhattan

In darkness of the night  
I spied him in a tree  
Sat I froze by the sight  
He was looking at me  
The summer's heat became a chill  
The angel of death at his kill

Part One: Sarah The First Day: Times Square

I couldn't remember my entire life when I first got to the UG of Manhattan. Then a week went by and I remembered everything except how I got there in the first place. Anyway here's how the first week went.

I woke up and found myself on the streets of Manhattan just outside Central Park, aside from my name and age, the city was all I knew. I got up and found a pin in my hand. It had a very intricate skull design on it. I say skull because that's the closest thing the design resembled. It just didn't look like a natural skull. Then I put it on and touched it with my left hand. I heard the voices of the people on the streets get even more jumbled and mixed together than they were earlier. But at the same time, if I focused really well, they sounded clearer. I took my hand off the pin, and the voices stopped. I realized that those voices were thoughts.

"Just what is this pin!?" I asked aloud. I said it loud enough for people to hear me, but no one took notice. Then my phone got a message on it.

_Reach Times Square. Time limit: 60 Minutes_

_Fail and face Erasure_

_-The Reapers_

Now if I had my memories I would've known that I was a Player in the Reaper's Game by now (I played "The World Ends With You" before), however I didn't even remember how I got to sleeping in the middle of the street in Manhattan. So it tried to delete the text, but it wouldn't go away. Then my hand got burned and when I looked to see the burn, it looked like a working timer, counting down from sixty minutes. All the signs changed and said, "You Have 7Days." Then these weird symbols pooped out of thin air and next thing I knew I was under attack by frogs! (Sound familiar?)

Well I couldn't fight them so I ran, far and fast as I could, which took me to Rockefeller Plaza. However the frogs showed up here too.

"Ugh! Freakin' Frogs!" they attacked a whole hoard of people, and before I knew it they were all gone. "Wha-What!? What the hell is going on!?"

"Found one!" a girl's voice said behind me. I turned around to see the most stylish girl I saw since before I could remember. "Hey! You mind forging a Pact with me?"

"What!?" I asked. I looked this girl over. She had red hair with a pink streak in the bangs. Her eyes were blue, and she was very skinny. She wore a camouflage miniskirt that covered her thighs, a matching jacket a red tank top, and high heeled boots along with a hat that looked like something out of a camping magazine. "What do you mean a Pact!?"

"Just do it! If you don't the Noise will erase us both!"

"What harm could a little noise do?" I asked. Then I realized she was talking about the frogs, which now had us surrounded.

"You want to be erased!?"

"…Fine, I accept!" We slapped hands and there was a mini fireworks show surrounding us. The lights started getting closer and closer to our hands until they scratched another mark into them. A cross, like the one this girl was wearing, for me, and a skull, like one on my bracelet, for her.

"What was that!?" I had to ask.

"A Pact!" She explained. "We're Partners until the Seven days are up!"

"Okay, so how do we get rid of the Noise!?"

"Take this!" she tossed me a watch and a pin with a flame insignia on it. "Place the pin on the watch face and you'll be able to use the Psych!"

I tried her instructions. A wave of my hand and all the Frogs went up in flames.

"Did I do that!?"

"You're a Psychomaster! Focus on me, and we'll be able to fight together!"

Strapped to her back was a stuffed cat. As soon as she unstrapped it, it gained a mind of its own and went berserker going at the frogs. I just set more of them on fire and eventually they were all gone. I was tired, but the only way you'd tell was my panting.

"Nice job Partner." The girl said. I still couldn't find a reason to trust her.

But I said "Right back atcha'. Hey, do you know what's going on here?"

"It's a long story. Let's just get to Times Square. I'm Sara Bloom, by the way."

"Ricky Jordan."

Well we got to Times Square and the timer on both our hands was reset.

"Congratulations, Ricky Jordan and Sara Bloom," Said a voice from the Jumbotron. "Of course this is Day One, so don't expect the missions to be easy from here out."

It turned out to be a guy in his early twenties. He had earbuds sticking out of his shirt, and a pair of shades covering his eyes. He was dressed in a business/casual work suit. The thing that tipped me off that this guy was not normal was the very presence he gave off.

"Who are you!?" I yelled.

"Is that any way to talk to the guy who's letting your existence continue for now?" the dude said. He jumped down and stood up to walk over to us, an impressive feat, considering the Times Square Jumbotron is Three hundred and forty feet above the streets. When he got close to us, his presence was almost unbearable.

"I repeat. Who are you?" I said with more fear than rage now.

"Calm down, I'm on your side," he said. "I am Dracula, the Conductor of Manhattan."

"I thought that the UG had a Composer." Sara said.

"Half of the UG's do, the other half have people like me running the show from behind the scenes, if something happens to me, something happens to Manhattan."

"Then why are you here, if you have an all-important Job like yours?" I asked.

"I wanted to see how My Player was doing."

"Huh?"

"You'll understand in a little while Ricky, We'll meet again, I'm sure." He rushed into an alleyway and disappeared. Here ends the First Day.


	2. The Second Day: The Dead Needle

The Second Day: The Dead Needle

I next woke up in the subway. I had a figure under my arm. Turns out it was Sara. Took me a few minutes to remember that much. Then after a few seconds I remembered everything that happened earlier. Well, Sara woke up and she started explaining the whole situation to me.

We were Players in the Reapers' Game. We were on the UnderGround of Manhattan, fighting to regain two precious possessions that we lost, either to the Reapers or to Fate. For every Player, one precious possession varies. But the other is why the Players were on the UG in the first place. Though how it happened may be as variable as what the Reapers took as the "Entry Fee," the result was always the same, and thus we're all on the UG in the same way.

It was about here that my phone got another text from the Reapers.

_Revive the Dead Needle. Time limit: 600 minutes_

_ Fail and face Erasure_

_ -The Reapers._

The Timer imprinted into my skin started up again from six hundred minutes.

"Okay…Why do we need the Timers?" I asked.

"We fail the mission we get Erased," Sara said. "The Reapers added a time limit for the sake of their entertainment. If the Timer runs to Zero and the mission isn't completed, we're Doomed"

"Fair enough I guess." I headed out of the subway, but there was a barrier blocking the path outside. "It's blocked."

"A wall," Sara said. "The Reapers must know we're here." She checked her phone. "But this Dead Needle… it has to be Cleopatra's Needle, which is just beyond here."

"Ah great…" then I looked at the only other person in the subway. He was a guy in a red hoodie, and he was dressed like a hobo with a messenger bag over one shoulder. He was looking right at us. I tried the Pin I got at Central Park.

When normally there would be at least some voices in my head, not even Sara's thoughts popped up. The hobo's mind was silent to me too. I canceled the Pin's…Whatever it's called.

"Huh?" I said.

"What is it, Ricky?" Sara asked.

"That hobo over there, I can't read him."

"You can't Scan him!?" she yelled.

"Because I'm a support Reaper." The hobo said after coming over to us.

"Gah!"

"So you're a Reaper, eh?"

"I'm here to rank up your score as players, that's why I set up the wall," The Reaper said. "My Terms for letting it down, you have to Scan to look for the Noise in the Area, and erase them."

I understood after he went back to where he was standing. I almost put my hand on the Pin again, but Sara stopped me.

"Don't you want to clear the wall?"

"Yeah, but you need to check to see if you've got more pins," Sara said. "They should've given you loads at the start of the Game, seeing as how you're a Psychomaster."

"Psychomaster? What does that mean?"

"It means that you have the ability to switch Psychs, mid-fight. I happen to be a Conjurer. My stuffed Cat, Meowmeow, happens to be my Psych, and I can't change that."

"So, Players are set into certain categories?"

"There are hundreds, half as many as there can be people in the UG."

"Wow…" I checked my pocket. There were tons of pins there that I never saw in any store, one with a slash across it, one with a small meteor, one with a hand on it, and one with a bolt of lightning. I tried each one on all the noise I found by scanning with the "Player's Pin," the pin that I got at the start of the Game. The meteor Pin let me shoot energy bullets at the noise, the slashed Pin let me slash across enemies with an invisible blade, the hand Pin let me move objects without touching them to hurt enemies, and the lightning Pin let me control electricity.

"Objective met." The Reaper said. And just like that the Wall was gone.

We left the station ending up in Central Park, and Sara was almost knocked out by a gangster dressed dude wearing a lot of Skulls.

"I know you's a Reaper, yo!" He said. "Jus' give up and I won't Erase you."

"Grey! Stop!" yelled a little girl running to catch us. She was in a sweater with a heart shaped skull on it and crossbones. Her hat almost matched this guy's and her overalls weren't on her body.

"Why, Ash!? This girl almost Erased us yesterday!" Grey turned to us. "You think you can trick me because o' the way you's dressed yo?"

I had to step in. I couldn't find a reason to trust her, but as far as I knew we were alive, and Sara still had the right to live. I did what most people would do when their Partner is tackled to the ground… I tackled Grey.

"Dammit yo, you're gettin' in the way! If you's a Player, you'd leave this to me yo!"

"Dude, I am a Player," I said. "But I can't let you kill Sara. She's my Partner!"

"Say what?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you Grey." Ash said. "Look at the hat. She's got the Player's Pin. She's like us."

"But I couldn't Scan her!"

"You couldn't Scan me either, Right? That's the way the Pin works. It only scans the RG."

A little later everything was sorted out.

"Yo, Sorry 'bout tryin' to Erase you," Grey said. "I'm Grey. This is my Partner, Ash."

"Howdy," Ash said.

"I'm Sara, This is Ricky," Sara said. "Why do you two go by those names?"

"I don't really remember," Ash said. "But I couldn't stand to go by anything else so I go by Ash."

"Something weird happened yesterday yo," Grey almost asked us. "The mission said we needed to get to Times Square but one of the Reapers stopped us from gettin' there. She almost Erased us when the Timer reset."

"That is weird," I said. "But we made it to Times Square alright." We (And by "we" I mean "they") tossed some ideas around but we couldn't figure anything out by the time Dracula showed up again.

"Hey there Ricky," he said. "Perhaps I should explain something about how the Missions in the Game work. The Game is kinda like that book, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. The difference is Players don't kill each other, they have to work together, if one Team clears the Mission all Players clear the Mission."

"So we don't even have to play!?" Grey exclaimed.

"Yeah, but if every Player, thought like that, you'd all get Erased the first day, which is why we keep that a secret normally."

"First…Day?" I had to query

"Oh… I forgot about your… Entry Fee. See the Game takes Place from Sunday to Saturday with one Mission per day, formulated By the Game Master, or GM for short. When one days Mission is completed Players have until ten minutes pass before they fall asleep and wake up for the next mission."

"That would explain why the date change on my phone, but how is that normal!?"

"Well you can't leave a UG when you're a Player or a Reaper. So we set Bedtimes for you."

"Um, Ricky?" Sara interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"We have half the time we had earlier; we need to get to the Needle."

"Hey Do you guys need our help?" Grey asked. "It'd be the least I can do to make it up to you guys."

I mulled it over. "Sorry but I don't need more people I don't trust trying to help, I've got my hands full with Sara."

"Why's that Beats?" Grey sounded suspicious. "You sayin' you don't trust us yo?"

"It's Okay Grey; I can see Ricky's point…" Ash said. "Offer's open." They went to figure out what The Needle in the Mission was.

"Why would you do that!?" Sara scolded.

"I didn't want to be a burden to them, and I didn't want any more burdens on me," I answered.

"I think she means deny trusting your Partner," Dracula put in.

"I wouldn't deny it if I did Trust her," I said. "But Trust develops over time and that's one thing I haven't had for this one yet."

"Well, there's your biggest mistake."

"What?"

"If you want to survive the Game, you have to trust your Partner no matter what. If your Partner's erased, you'll follow in thirteen minutes."

"Okay… I'll try." Sara and I went on to the Needle. Well turns out to "Revive" Cleopatra's Needle, we needed to make it part of the UG again. The problem is the Noise completely devoured that much of the UG. I set all the Noise on fire and Meowmeow took care of things from there.

The Timer reset once the last Noise was Erased. Then I found out what a Reaper looks like. A girl around seventeen just popped out of thin air.

"Congratulations, Beats and Kitty," she said. She had short hair like Sara's, dyed pink in one Streak and red the rest. She was wearing a red tank top with black denim shorts. Her boots went as high on her as Sara's did on Sara. The craziest thing about her was the Wings. They were basically black wing bones for an angel, only shaped more like a grave keeper made them. "But I will get those Reaper Points outta you two."

She summoned up some Noise and we erased them as quickly as she could bring them up. We were tired by the time the next wave came, so I had to take her on.

"Ricky! Don't! She's too powerful!" Sara said.

"Why'd you have to ruin the fun…How about a special mission beats, you win you're outta the game." Needless to say I accepted. Big mistake. I had to kill Sara.

"Let me give you a good reason, she's a spy." I remembered that I shouldn't trust Reapers, but… that was enough to make me attempt the deed. Here ends the Second Day.


	3. The Third Day: Radio City Noise

Day Three: Radio City Noise

I woke up in a dark place. Literally and metaphorically. It took me a minute to remember that I killed Sara the day before. I tried to see where I was, but my Psych wouldn't work. Then Sara appeared out of the Darkness. I was so relieved. But my confusion overcame that relief. Sara explained what I couldn't remember.

Flashback: The Second Day

I was just about to kill Sara. That Reaper who made me was thankful she was seeing progress. Then a guy in a black hoodie came out and knocked me down before I could completely kill Sara.

"Ulrika!" The guy said. The Reaper turned around at the sound of this name. "You know you're not supposed to be giving missions! And there's only supposed to be one a day, unless it's special in which case it should still be given only by the Game Master!"

"Whoa! What!?" I exclaimed.

"To make matters worse 'Erase your Partner' is a Forbidden Mission! You can't make that a Mission; it's been like that since the first days of the Game!"

"…I know, Boss… But I'm not the GM. So this wasn't even a Mission."

"YOU TRICKED ME!" I yelled.

"Hey, Trust is part of the Game… but you can't trust Reapers if you want to Survive." Ulrika took off.

"Thanks for helping us," Sara said to the Stranger. "I'm Sara by the Way."

"I'm Ricky."

"I know who you two are, I'm the head Reaper of Manhattan, call me Frank, Frank N. Stein."

"She really had u-…me fooled."

"Nice choice of words there." Frank said. "You know no one can just read your mind. In order to make it easier to trust people you have to open up. You're Partner here won't be able to know you unless you open your heart." Easy for him to say.

"He's Right, Ricky!" Sara started to say. "Let me in! I only want to help you out of the UG just as much as I want you to help me! The only way to do that is to let me understand you!"

"… I wish you could…" I said. "But I need to understand myself first."

"What?"

"I don't know anything about myself… I woke up in the Park without any memory of who I am besides the name Ricky Jordan. I don't know who I really am."

The Third Day: Radio City Noise

"Why didn't you tell me you lost your memory?" Sara asked.

"I only had ideas until I told you. It took a while for me to figure it out."

"Well, maybe you'll figure it out. Let's focus on today right now." The mission came around on our phones.

_Erase the Noise at Radio City. Time Limit: 500 minutes._

_ Fail and face Erasure._

_ -The Reapers_

The timers set to 500:00 and started ticking. Sara said she knew where Radio City was. We left wherever we were and found out we were at Radio City. There was one guy standing outside the building. He had blond hair going down to his elbows, he was in a Red t-shirt that said "God Be Praised." The thing that tipped me off that he wasn't normal was that he looked at us.

"Ah Players! Can you help me for a spell?"

"How can we be of assistance?" Sara asked.

"Whoa, Sara, wha-"

"Thanks… You see I'm supposed to have a concert at Radio City in about an hour; the only problem is that the Intern I sent hasn't come back with or without the proper tools to fix the lights in there, you think you can Imprint the idea of getting a Fuse on him? That would help ol' Jake Garrison out a lot!"

"J-J-Jake Garrison!?" Sara exclaimed.

"That's me, Christian Singer Extraordinaire."

"Uh…" I rack my brain for any reference of his name.

"Remember your amnesia, Ricky. You don't know him."

"Oh yeah. We got this Mr. Garrison."

"Call me Jake."

We went around looking for anyone who could've been the intern according to Jake's description he was wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, and a lanyard. We found him pretty easily. He was at a roadside Café. When we got in we were greeted by a waitress.

"The Reapers set up marks on the UG to allow Players to enter businesses and get what they need to complete the missions," Sara Explained. "Once we step outside, we won't be visible anymore."

I saw the intern and walked up to deliver the message from Jake.

"OH! Thanks for reminding me man! Gotta go!" He paid his bill and left in a hurry. We followed him to the Electrical appliance store, on the way we found Grey and Ash.  
"Ah man, Talk about Rotten Luck. Here comes Beats," Grey said.

"C'mon, Grey, He's not that bad," Ash said.

"Hey you guys." Sara said.

"Sara, Ricky how are you guys?"

"We just got through with Getting an intern at Radio city to get a new fuse for the lights. That should help a lot."

"The Lights are out?" Ash said.

"It's pitch black in there," I answer. "That's where we woke up today."

"That'd Explain the Meme we got," Grey said.

"Meme?"

"They're these text messages sent to your phone to Imprint on RG walkers, the one we got was 'Blackout'." Just as she said Blackout my phone got a text.

_Meme: "Blackout."_

The Intern came out of the store and seemed confused.

"Why did I buy this?" he asked himself.

"Seems like the perfect opportunity to test out the Meme," Ash said. "Go on Ricky, give it a shot."

Ash told me how to Imprint on people, I touched the Player's Pin and Aimed the tip of my Phone at the Intern. I sent the Text and let go of the Pin.

"Blackout…? Oh right! I need to get this to Radio City!" he rushed off.

"Is that offer still open?" I asked.

"If you're willing to trust us, yo," Grey answered.

"Well here's your chance to prove you're worth my trust, Sara and I will take down the Noise, if that doesn't work, help us out."

"We gots this, Yo!"

We all went back to Radio City. There was something preventing the lights from going on. That would be a giant Bat-like Noise. Sara and I took it and it's little Friends out, but the timer was still going, then Grey said something I never thought I'd hear.

"I'm diggin' it!" and he and Ash slashed across a small golden Bat-Noise, Erasing it.

The timer stopped, and reset.

"Okay, you earned it." I said. Jake walked into the Room once the lights went on again.

"That's a mission accomplished, congratulations."

"How could he see us?" Ash asked.

"He's a Reaper." Everyone looked at me. "The only people who can see Players are affiliated with the Game. I think that makes him a Reaper." Here ends the Third Day


	4. The Fourth Day: Rockefeller Plaza

The Fourth Day: Rockefeller Plaza

I woke up at Times Square. As usual Sara was right by my side. The only thing that changed was the fact that Grey and Ash were with us too. Before we fell asleep yesterday, we agreed to work together to win the Game and apparently the Reapers were okay with it.

"Okay… the fourth day of the Game," I said.

"Look at all the people, and not one of them can see us," Ash said.

"Makes me sad, yo," Grey responded.

"I wish there were a way," Sara said.

I was thinking it was a dream come true, no one being able to see me meant no one expected anything of me, and I didn't want to live up to anyone's expectations. The mission came around.

_ Reach Rockefeller Plaza: No time limit._

_ Fail and face Erasure._

_ -The Reapers._

This seemed too easy, I was a little suspicious. But I wasn't complaining that it was that easy... yet. We started for Rockefeller, but when we reached the Manhattan Shopping Center, Sara asked if we could go in to check on something. There was a guy signing autograph books galore.

"Who Is that?" I asked.

"Only a guy wouldn't know him, Ricky," Ash said with little interest. "That's Frankie Schwartz the most fashionable guy on the runway."

"So… he's a model?"

"The biggest there is!" Sara said. "I've always dreamed of either my friends or my own male fashion designs getting on him! That'd be the biggest achievement in fashion history!"

"I don't really give much thought to fashion, as you can see." I gestured to my_ Black "Team USA" vest over a black T-shirt, cargo pants and a normal belt, Skull Bracelet, and Beats headphones._

_ "One thing I learned from Aphrodite is that Fashion sense, no matter whose it is, says something. And yours says 'I'm me.'"_

_ "I like that idea… mostly." Then Frankie Schwartz came over to us._

_ "Hello Players."_

_ "Another Reaper?" Ash asked._

_ "No, I'm a viewer of the Game, a former Player myself. The UG is like a fatal car accident. Once you see it, you can't stop seeing it."_

_ "So, why are you talking to us?" I ask._

"I just wanted to say that your fashion sense is very… unique…" he says to me "probably one of the most independent of any I've ever seen before."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Yes… but there are still people who disagree with me. The only opinion that Matters is your own. Remember that."

With that under our belts, we set off for Rockefeller again. On the way I noticed for the first time the Bell Ash was always wearing. That would be big later, and I didn't know it.

We reached Rockefeller, Grey much faster than anyone else. A Giant Noise came up under him; it would've Erased him if it weren't for Ash. She pushed him outta the way of the bite from the Giant Cobra. All that was left was a Bell, the same one I noticed on the way here.

"Ashley!" Grey screamed to the Sky.

"Ah Man, he was supposed to be number 14." said a guy behind Grey.

"Reapers!" I yelled.

"Shane Cesium, and Ulrika Winters." The guy said. the other Reaper was the same girl who almost made me Erase Sara.

"You!"

"Me," Ulrika said. "Sorry 'bout your partner. But we're Reapers, it's kinda our job, and our life, in a way, depends on it."

"Screw your Job, Murderous Scum!" Grey grabbed Shane by the neck and hoisted him off the ground.

"Go Ahead…Erase me!" Shane said. "At least if I die… you're not far behind, Hero."

"Hey!" Dracula came up behind us. "Put him down!"

"Why, yo!? He killed Ash!"

"That's exactly why! If a player is Erased then the Partner follows in thirteen minutes! I got a job for you, and you can get her back!" he tossed a Pin to Grey who caught it in his left hand. There was a Pact forged and Grey stopped fading. "You're still not safe! Leave the Noise and the Reapers to Ricky and Sara!"

With tears in his eyes Grey let Shane down… "You'd better kill these Bastards good, ya' hear?" he went away with Dracula. Sara and I took out the Noise with fire and kitty fist. One of each was more than the Cobra could stand. When Shane and Ulrika saw that we were more than a match for the Noise they left with some discomforting words.

"Too bad Heroine was Erased. She made the Game Interesting from Hero's Story."

"We could've saved her," Sara said.

"Yeah… I wish I did too. But I just wasn't fast enough, I couldn't have saved her anyway." Here ends the Fourth Day


End file.
